The Final Plan
by AlecBrimstone5381
Summary: Mike was trying, he really was. Yet the dancing and the studying and his Family's expectations were a weight he hadn't prepared himself for. When things start to crumble, you have to march through the dust. To be continued...
1. chapter 1

**Hello people! This is my first Glee story, and the rights do not belong to me. I'll put in a brief warning here for mild swearing and homophobic slurs. I'm a little lost as to where this is going, so please give me ideas! I'm also not American, so feel free** **to correct me on anything I've got wrong! :)**

He wasn't going to lie, the pressure got to him. More so than anyone else, with school work and grades, Glee club, football, dancing. He'd wake up in bed some mornings and think- 'What have I missed!'. Life was just so frantic.

Since his best friend had transferred, he felt more alone than ever. There had always been someone that _got_ it, when Matt was with him. Someone that understood him and his family, and was good enough to say,

"Hey. Just chill a bit. Play video games with me. Get out. Come to bread sticks."

When Matt left, he was understandably sad, but they messaged each other now and again. He visited once, at the end of the holidays. He thought he'd be okay. Yet three months into the new year, and Mike was cracking at the edges.

This morning was particularly bad, as he'd woken up with a headache, _and_ it was Glee club. Which meant dancing around and all that. He'd caught the bus, dodged the Neanderthal's chucking spaghetti in the parking lot and _almost_ made it to first class when a first slammed into the locker beside him.

"Hey! Gay glee kid!" Came an angry voice. Mike spun round, momentarily stunned. His position on the football team had always guaranteed him a sort of protective shield from pointless intimidation and corridor insults, so why was this kid-! BANG!

"You! You listening to me!" Mike flinched as the kid's other hand bashed at the hard metal. He was big, with fuzzy hair, and growling menacingly. "You stay away from us, you hear me!? We don't wanna catch you peeping or shit!"

Mike remained silent, eyes wide, more surprised than scared. He couldn't believe this was happening, this didn't happen to people like him! Then he felt guilty for brushing aside the concerns of other Glee members who were less fortunate than himself. The big kid glared at him for another second, then pushed back violently. He let out a sort of half scoff as he sauntered away, leaving Mike staring after him wondrously in the empty corridor.

He didn't mention it to anyone at Glee club.

...

The headache was back, throbbing at his temple, like his heart had taken a temporary vacation to the inside of his skull. He groaned as he dragged himself from underneath the covers, dressed quickly and swallowed a pain-med tablet with his glass of water.

"Breakfast darling?" Called his mom as he pulled open the front door.

"I'll have it at school, I'll be late!" Mike lied. He felt sick.

The bus journey was torturous; every bump and corner seemed to be taking a sledgehammer to his head, and he held his breath every time the vehicle accelerated from traffic lights. The unfinished biology homework in his lap was going nowhere, as was that English essay lying forgotten in his bag. He would have done it yesterday, but he'd been up revising for chemistry all night and gone and fallen asleep at his desk. The bus screeched to a halt, and he swore under his breath at the jolting pain, then swore again, but louder, as some girl knocked into his shoulder causing his papers and pens to spill out of his lap. He watched them roll across the floor and underneath seats, getting trampled and crumpled in the mad rush. Clambering down onto hands and knees, he began the slow process of picking them up again.

...

"Late! Mike Chang!" Screamed the teacher, as he shuffled into the classroom. He felt drained, and probably looked it too. He'd get more sleep tonight, he promised himself. "Mike! Are you listening to me?"

"Huh?" He looked up blearily. The rest of the class snickered at him.

"Your Math test Mr Chang. You got a B, I'm disappointed in you."

A B?

 _B_?

Mike felt his blood freeze. There was no way that this was how his day was going to begin. This was just not possible. An A- was bad enough in the eyes of his father, if it dropped below... No. This had to be a dream. He was obviously exhausted enough: he'd most likely drifted off at his desk and this was all just a horrible nightmare. He was dizzy. This wasn't real? If the kid on the front row had red eyes, then it wasn't real? They were all looking at him. Funny eyes. Funny eyes.

He took a deep breath. His desk was over there, he'd just... float over and...

"Mike Chang. You can sit down now. I'll be speaking to you after the lesson."

"Yes... Miss." He slumped into the comfort of his plastic seat.

...

Glee club was fun, a chance to put behind the bad events of the day. His dizzy spell in the morning was freaky, but the caffeine infused hot drink he'd bartered for at lunch had perked him right up again. He'd spent break and lunch in the library studying: he had a plan. No way was he going to let his father know about his failed grade on the math paper. It would be a death sentence. He'd pleaded with his teacher not to let it count against his other grades, and promised to study harder. She'd seemed surprised, but was happy to agree. Encouraged to do his best, Mike threw himself into revision, and pushed himself extra hard with his dance moves just to passive agressively prove to his father that he was strong enougth to do both.

"You're on top today, Mike!" Congratulated Mr Shue, as he spun around the room. Brittney smiled at him as they entered into a lively footwork routine.

...

He left school through the back entrance, as he wanted to walk the short way home this time, rather than along with the other Glee members. As he passed though the gates, it began to drizzle, so he flipped his hood up against the rain. It was probably for this reason that he didn't notice the two guys leaning against the railings until he was roughly grabbed by the shoulder. There was a ringing thud as he hit the bars.

"Don't think this is over Chang."

 **To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

That had been the beginning of it. But certainly not the end. A month passed, bringing with it a series of similar, unpleasant incidents. One time, two of the guys had pounced upon his stuff after a lesson and strewn it across the classroom. The next day, evidently finding this completely hilarious, they had proceeded to repeat the act. All across the swimming pool. Mike's gym kit had been soaked though, meaning he'd had to borrow the slimy, unwashed clothes from the PE office. Needless to say, he'd recently taken to storing a second lot in his locker: just in case.

All these were just _things_ though. Things, he could deal with. It was the constant stream of derogatory slang and ill concealed threats that got to him.

"Hey, Asian! Gay Asian!"

"Glee club spawn!"

"Better watch your back you piece of shit!"

"Faggot!"

"We'll see you tomorrow."

They all stung, to an extent, no matter how true or untruthful they were, but it was the last one that would always come back to haunt him. It would clatter though his thoughts in bed at night, an indication that this was not just a one time thing; this was a pattern. A relentlessness targeting of _him_. And it would not end.

Despite it all, there was still a tiny lingering piece of pride. It was almost as if, before, when he felt that sense of protection that came with being on the football team, he was still an outsider in Glee club. They were the ones that took the full battering, and he was just hiding in his red and white jacket. Now though, he was one of them. Part of it all, and proud of it.

He held his head up high in the corridors, tried twice as hard at his dancing and choreography, and pushed himself with his other subjects. He would be just as strong, just as brave, just as comfortable in his own shoes as his fellow Glee members. Mike smiled at the thought.

He didn't bring it up with anyone, because no one asked. After all, following the initial humiliation of the slushies and call outs, everyone else had just got on with life. It wasn't talked about anymore, but became an unspoken battle they all faced. Mike relished in the shared comradeship they possessed as a group- hell he may as well go all out right now and call them family. Even if it was just in his head.

"You alright Mike?" Asked Tina with a smile. "It's just, you're grinning kind of manically into thin air..."

"What? Oh. Right, nothing, Tina." He replied, only slightly embarrassed at being noticed. "Just, looking forward to sectionals."

"Me too. I can't wait to see what Mercedes has prepared for the solo's this week. Hey, Mercedes!" She turned to chat with her friend, and Mike was once again left to his musings, until Mr Shue burst into the room:

"Guys, I have a plan!"

...

He was cornered almost as soon as he left the school gates. His route took him to the left, down a couple of suburban streets, then a shortcut through an alleyway. It wasn't even a bad part of town, yet he wasn't surprised to find two of his chief tormentors smoking round the bend in the path. Their names were Mark Dangross and Callum Ross, and they were on the hockey team. They looked up as he walked towards them.

"Hey, Chang!" Called Dangross. "Fancy seeing you here. Cigarette?"

Mike didn't even pretend to kid himself that they were here by chance. It was too rehearsed. Nevertheless, he intended to make himself scarce as soon as possible.

"No thanks, I don't smoke," He said, as smoothly as he could.

"Have one anyway."

He took the cigarette. It hung loosely between his fingers, like it had always belonged there. The acrid scent made him feel nauseous.

They all stood in silence, and Mike wondering what their plan was; played along, he lifted the burning paper up to his mouth, pretending to breath in its grey smoke.

Ross moved to stand beside him against the brick wall, pulling his hood over his face, and Dangross chuckled. Mike was so focused on staring at his feet, that he barely saw the flash of movement as Dangross pulled something out of his pocket.

"Catch Chang!" He flung some sort of small package over, which Mike instinctively caught, fumbling with his grasp. The second his fingers curled around the plastic bag, he knew he'd made an awful, horrible mistake. He heard the click, click of a camera shutter, and watched in horror as Dangross lowered his phone. He dropped the cigarette.

"My, my... Chang. Didn't think you had it in you!" He drawled. Mike felt his palms go sweaty, and he looked down at the bag in his hands. It was clear, and contained some kind of white powder.

"What have you done?" He spluttered. Dangross and Ross just grinned, looking like identical leering demons from the depths of hell.

"I think the question, Chang, is what have you been doing? Don't think your father will be too happy with your behaviour."

"Yeah," Agreed Ross, "We've seen him strut about the school in his stupid suit. You think he'll still be proud of you if these photos leak?"

It suddenly dawned on him what they'd done. The photographs. All it would look like to anyone else was a picture of Mike and some hooded figure, smoking cigarettes with him holding a suspicious bag, which looked a lot like... drugs.

If those got out...

His friends. His mother... His father. No. He wouldn't be able to talk himself out of this. What if they believed the lies in the pictures? What if he was kicked out? It killed him inside to admit it, but it wasn't a notion that his father would not consider.

"Please..." He whispered, pathetically clutching the drugs. His hands were trembling with nerves. All the fear, the hurt, the anticipation of the past month was nothing. Nothing, compared to this.

"You belong to us now, Asian." Snarled Dangross. "You do what we tell you to."

He ripped the bag from Mike's hands, tearing it open and pouring the powder over Mike's hair and face. He scrunched his eyes shut as it blew into his nose and mouth, making him cough, spluttering.

"For the record, that's flour." Said Ross. They shoved into him as they left, leaving him gasping in panic in the alleyway.


End file.
